Miro Dance Theatre’s party for the people is back with a whole lotta bachatta. Led by DJ Victor Colon. Miro supporters are teaming up with professional salsa dancers from Fuzion Creativa and battling it out on the dance floor in the name of all that is Miro. Mark your calendar and join the fun in support of your friendly neighborhood experimental dance theatre company.

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.mirodancetheatre.org or call (215) 962-4773

The first performance was George and Sylvia. They made their debut performance they will perform at the Estilo’s Showcase in the coming months. We wanted to keep the suspense, so this video will be posted after Estilo Showcase.

The second salsa dance was performed by the Canaries choreographed by Victor Colon and Andrea Garrick.

Fuzion Creativa is coming out full force in the salsa community. Last year, George Dennis always said he hoped to see the Westville Square Xavier Hall Studio full of salseros, and last night he got his wish! With over 210 salseros, it was one hot steamy night of salsa dancing. You could feel the whole studio come alive with the energy of the crowd. People came from all over, from DC, Philadelphia, Virginia, and other surrounding states and communities.

There were two rooms for salsa dancing, bachata and merengue and two separate beginner lessons On1 and On2. Special performances were the highlight of the night – they included a performances by George and Sylvia, a performance by Carnaries choreographed by Victor and Andrea, a performance by Living in Rhythm, a performance by students from Drexel choreographed by George Dennis, a performance by Nelson and Alyssa, and one last performance by Fuzion Creativa. You can view videos of the performances by visiting this blog on February 13th.

Special thanks to Diane for her support and use of her studio. Diane is the owner of Dances By Diane and she teaches Ballroom, Swing, Latin, and choreographs Wedding Dances.

When George Dennis first walked in and saw the studio he said to Diane, “Wow, we should have a party” and party we did. If you missed last night’s event, be sure you don’t miss out on the next Salasambo events. Bookmark http://salsablog.salsa-dancing-addict.com and check our blog periodically We post the latest Salsambo events and other salsa events here.

2008 was a rough year for everyone. I basically laid low for the better half of 2008 and haven’t taken salsa classes or gone out to Latin parties that much.

Its time to get back into the groove of things and get my mind working again. So I’ll be taking weekly classes consistently with George Dennis and Victor Colon this year. I plan to go to the salsa socials once a week either on Friday’s or Saturdays. If you can’t make the socials to see the performances, visit my Salsa Performance Groups webage every now and then to check out the performances you miss.

I have seen Victor Color out and about around the salsa scene (See video – Creative Fusion ) but I’ve never taken a salsa lesson with him.

I went with my friend Emily to the Sweat Shop located 510 N. Kings Hwy., Cherry Hill, NJ 08034. Its practically down the street from my house.

I came in with no expectations and came out with some good pointers and high praises for Victor. It was about an hour long class and there were 3 of us and Victor — me, Emily and Dian-a. We didn’t really do any complicated patterns, but we went over some very small but important things that makes for a better dancer.

The one thing that we really worked on was to give the girl a clear direction of where you want her to go. For example a cross body lead.. You do not just open up and let her decide where she will go, but you give her a clear lead by using your right arm and send her through. Victor used the word “push”, but I think it might be easier to think about using tension in your arm to guide the girl in the direction you want her to go.. With “push” I think you think more of pushing someone over forcefully. Also with the word “push” I think you also tend to think “shove” which is not what you want.

The lead should be forceful, yet gentle, if that makes any sense. You should use force, but not be rough. The rest of the time after you are finished the lead, you are mostly relaxed.

Overall, I enjoyed the class. I really didn’t come in with expectations. I really didn’t know what I wanted. But by the end of class, I knew that it wasn’t really the patterns that I wanted; I really wanted to learn the technical part of the dance that allows you how to lead better. And that’s exactly what I got !

Most of the instructors that you go to don’t nit-pick on the important technical part of the dance. Victor actually provides the unique instruction that you need. So while you may enjoy the patterns of the other instructors, its definitely worthwhile to supplement your training with Victor’s class !